Hidden Acknowledgement: The Original
by obsessiveicequeen
Summary: my original story
1. Chapter 1

Summary: The story behind the oneshot of "The Reason I Stayed" by rageofkyubi.

**Chapter One**

"NARUTO!"

The voice of Iruka-sensei was projected loud and clear throughout the whole village.

Naruto grinned widely and turned around, preparing to run as fast as his legs could carry him.

The chase had begun.

The brunette, fast on his trail behind him, never knew of the look on his face that spoke volumes.

His eyes had lit up, bluer and brighter. There was a source of fire in his eyes that burned in a way that no one ever saw.

It completely changed him.

His eyes weren't closed, didn't hide the pain he tried to keep away from the village and his smile was genuine.

His smile wasn't wide or goofy, like people were used to seeing. There was no exaggeration in the curve of his lips. It was soft and sweet, full of sincerity.

The contours of his face were completely different, which would have reminded the village of a certain someone of the past he resembled.

While Naruto ran, leaving the scene with Iruka-sensei chasing him, a sweet and melodic voice rang with laughter and floated in the wind to his ears as he left.

His heart was pounding and it soared with the sky as he continued leaping from one roof to another.

The person who was always around him, supporting him in the shadows, was happy, if only for a moment.

Because her laugh was filled with joy, something he knew that didn't happen as often as it should.

* * *

A small hand tried to cover the giggles that threatened to spill out of her lips, but it was futile.

She never knew that he had always heard her.

* * *

Pulling pranks and being chased was a routine that was continuous, but never tiring. It was fun to see the looks of people's face when he took them by surprise, but the main reason of those pranks were always for _her_. It always made him happy that he could make one of the few people he cared about laugh and smile, especially her.

_She_ was the reason for everything he did when he found out about her presence years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

When she first laid eyes on him, the world she knew had been changed and it was irreversible.

* * *

The day had started out normally.

She had once again disappointed her father's expectations as the heiress to the Hyuuga clan. Five year old Hinata ran away to the forest when the training session had ended and cried in shame.

Steady tears poured out of her eyes and her throat became sore as she berated herself in her mind. Cruel phrases that had been said or whispered revolved around in her mind, destroying her confidence even further.

When the self pity session had ended, she decided to stay away from her clan for a while. She didn't want to face them when she still had some time left for herself. She distracted herself with a lake nearby and she leaned against a tree to watch the entrancing, shimmering water in the lake. The water mesmerized her until she forgot about all and became calm once more.

When the sun began to set in the west, she gathered the courage to walk home.

While she walked down the street to her home, a scene had caught her attention.

A large crowd had gathered in front of a restaurant. Interest grew in her red-rimmed eyes as she walked towards the crowd. Slipping through their legs carefully, she saw a man in an apron, pointing and shouting at a young boy who was around her age. His spiky, blonde hair was the first thing that her attention. His back was turned so she could not see his face. However, she could see that he was wearing a white shirt and blue shorts and sandals. He was waving his arms as he shouted right back at the man. As she listened, she found out that the man wouldn't let the boy in and serve him food.

She was puzzled. Why wouldn't he let a little boy in?

As if the world knew, the low murmurs of the crowd that surrounded her had answered her question.

"Laughable."

"…like the demon brat should have the privilege of being served."

"What is he thinking?"

"Why can't we just kill him already? After all he has done, he doesn't have the right to live."

"…It's not fair. Why is Hokage-sama protecting that piece of trash?"

"Let's just kill him while he's vulnerable."

"Shh… don't forget about the law. We're not supposed to talk about it."

Hinata was confused, her brows furrowed.

Demon? Why was he called that? And why are they so cruel to him? What did he ever do?

She turned her attention back to the scene and gasped. The man had punched the boy directly in the stomach and left him sprawling on the ground. He began walking back into his restaurant and shouted at the boy, "DON'T EVEN THINK about coming back or I'll kill you!"

"Good riddance."

"…I wished I got to do that."

She looked at the crowd around; she saw many of them nodding their heads in agreement of what was said. Their eyes had narrowed in sadistic pleasure as they stared at the scene. The look in their eyes left her shivering, chilled to the bone.

Why did they hate him so much?

As she became lost in her thoughts, the crowd was leaving until it was who only she who stood at the scene. Blinking, she looked at the boy in front of her. He was slowly getting off the ground, dusting his shorts. When he stood straight, he waved a fist in front of him and shouted to everyone turning their backs on him.

"OH YEAH! When I become Hokage, I'll make sure you respect me and beg for me to come back! And I won't because Naruto Uzumaki doesn't need you! It's not like your food is any good!"

Just as Naruto stopped yelling, the door opened and the man returned with a bucket. He stomped his way towards the blonde haired boy and turned the bucket over. Some red liquid substance with strips of white fat was poured over him and he screamed in disgust.

"HEY! What did you do that for?"

The man snarled. "Get off of my property brat. Your yelling is disturbing my business."

Then he and the empty bucket returned to the restaurant.

The boy, Naruto, began to take the bits of meat of his clothing as he grumbled.

Hinata, on the other hand, froze. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him.

He began looking up.

"Eep!"

Avoiding attention, she ran to the side of the building. Her back laid flat against the wall and she tilted her head to his direction. She began poking her fingers together and stared at the ground, her lavender eyes distressed.

What should she do after witnessing the cruelty she had seen? She wanted to go up to him and… then what? She was too shy to even speak up. How could she help him?

She should leave. Her father was already angry today. He would yell at her for staying out so long when she shouldn't have, especially when the incident with the Cloud village was still fresh in their minds. She should have been home a long time ago. She should leave and ignore him like everyone else was doing. She would forget she saw anything and continue on despite the sorrow she felt for the boy.

Her resolve strengthened, she began to take a step forward. However, just as she began moving, he turned his head and sapphire met lavender. The world became silent and their gazes were locked together for one moment.

It was in that moment that she lost her heart to another.

She was mesmerized with the emotions that quickly fleeted through his eyes. Anger, embarrassment, and determination were held in those blue orbs of his. They created a rioting storm in his gaze and the intensity drew her in deeper and deeper. As she stared longer, she was able to delve in deeper and saw the reflection of her soul. The despair and loneliness spoke to her with such familiarity were in his eyes before he looked back down, continuing to clean up.

Breathing became something harder to do.

He looks so alone, standing on his own as he continued to take the white fat off his shirt to no avail.

No one bothered to help him, like no one cared for her.

True to her observant nature, the picture became clearer in her young mind as she started to understand him a little more.

She saw a boy who was determined to be strong and ignore them, but he wondered why they were doing something like this to him, just as she wondered why her clan treated her so. She wanted to know as well. Why would the village treat a stranger with such hostility, especially at boy at her age? What did he ever do cause this?

No one seemed to care for him.

Even she was about to leave him, but the look in his eyes stopped her from doing so.

She felt a sense of kinship to him. She knew what he felt, at least to a certain extent and she wanted to do something, anything that could ease his pain, even if it was a little. She wanted to help him because she knew how much she wanted someone to help her when there was no one else. He felt what she felt.

Without her notice, she began walking to him with small steps.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ever since the beginning of his memories, eyes that were cold and hostile stared at him before he understood their meaning. Narrowed brows and unfriendly sneers baring teeth to him had twisted numerous human faces into monsters that surrounded him.

They were the villagers of Konoha.

They were proud citizens, and stood together against harsh obstacles not only for themselves, but for each other in their affinity for Konoha. However, they stood in crowds, watching him from the distance, interfering in his life despite their alienation. Words of convicted malice sprouted from their lips and stood in his way to prove his existence. The pain he felt from their distance almost influenced him to let go of his humanity and released Kyuubi, the demonic entity who was the real cause of everyone's rage and misfortune.

At a young age, he already knew of the demon's existence, who wanted to release its power of death and destruction once more. Dreams filtered into his mind as he slept and every day, he was tempted more and more to get revenge from every accusation many villagers.

It hurt a lot to face them the moment he stepped out into the streets.

There was incidents that made that enticement grew, but she was always there in the shadows, supporting him and soothing the hurt away.

He remembered the day that he first met her.


	4. Chapter 4

For those that have reviewed this story, that's really really great.

However, I want you to know that there is a revision of this story.

The content is about the same but my writing style is a little more different now.

Please give a chance to my new story and keep on reviewing.

thank you for your support!


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